How to Explain Death

Shedding of used-up husk
for fresher skin and feathers
of flower blooms, butterflies
or soaring eagle
touching the sky

welcomed chance
to know abundant life
as death generously
resurrects us
in different disguises

its overwhelming stillness
whispers to those
abruptly left behind
of memory-lives
that will never end to them.

How to Explain Life

Is it...

a failed magic trick
or glorious one

sensory playground
or shadowy fiction

mix of emotions
throttled by instinct

biochemical experiment
running its course

or blank slate of probabilities
with luck-of-the-draw winners?

I breathe
I eat and drink
I see, hear, feel, smell, taste
I lust
I love
I laugh and cry
I play and work
I reap and sow
I think
I imagine
I read and compose
I celebrate with others
I glory in nature
I soar and fall
I retreat
I sleep
I dream
I die and, perhaps, dream again.

Is it...

the universe's gift
or a cosmic joke

a straight line to nothingness
or regenerating spiral

a single imperative
for creative expression

blinded consciousness
craving comprehension

or exhilarating merry-go-round
spinning faster to oblivion?

Music Appreciation Class

First woodpeckers percuss
loudly across the bog

redwings screak and call
in back-and-forth rhythms

subtle peeper chorus
chants sweetly at hearing's edge

solo mallard flies over
quacking in syncopated time

sundry songbirds enter
at high and medium pitch

robins chirp warm-up notes
not yet in operatic timbre

alto-assertive wood frogs
insist with charming dissonance

bass croaks from bullfrogs missing
too early in the concert season

parent geese in squawking section
hurry me past their marshy nests

I pause again along the bogside
to sort out these euphonious sounds.

Flower Song

Wordsworth's daffodils
sang for me today
in lilting color

ten thousand strong
bright, sunny faces
in hillside chorale

mixed harmonies
in yellow, orange, and white
of gentle sublimity

soundless cantata
carefully composed
for blooming crescendo.

Southwest Palette

Pink and blue moments
encountered everywhere

shades of Picasso
certainly of O'Keeffe

rosy rocks, soil, adobe
bloom in random unity

startling azure flashes
streak past high-desert scrub

steep, pastel canyon walls
cavort with sapphire patches

freshly washed arroyos
pale-colored, sculpted cliffs

embrace joyously
amidst this cerulean feast

beauty everlasting glimpsed
while waiting with the ravens.

Southern Comfort

Genuine niceness
learned and practiced
as gentleness
mixed with kindness
extended to me
anonymous white person
by several black hostesses
at different kiosks
in the Atlanta airport
during a stopover stay.

These solicitous gifts
stirred deeply felt memories
of my South Carolina childhood
when I was cared for
by Florrie, Rosa, and Verda
and of sweet Jessie
who cooked next door
and sent me home
at end of long play-days
with three, still-warm-from-the-oven biscuits
small, buttered, perfectly flaked
wrapped carefully in a paper napkin
that I greedily devoured
before arriving at my back door
fifty feet away.

I am divorced
in various ways
from my native south
and when I visit now
mostly for funerals
I cherish conversations
joyous and accepting
with random, black strangers
refreshing my heart's connections
to long-ago, soul-forming comfort.

Max's Tomorrowland

Ten days of grandmother heaven
as newborn Max's late-night date

cocooned together on cozy sofas
conjuring up tall-tale adventures

jumping off MacDonald rocks
skiing Tahoe's powdery slopes

hiking Hadrian's serpentine wall
meditating at the Taj Mahal

ballooning over the Serengeti
paragliding among Alpine peaks

exploring Antarctica's icy pole

climbing the highest Himalayas

watching sunrise at Macchu Picchu
and sunset from Haleakala's crest

soon Max must begin his heroic quest
backpack stuffed with kin's affection.


 

Occasional Fantasy

I want to smash
all smart phones
whatever their brand

I want to stop
the beeping, playing
of Pachelbel's Canon

I want to snatch back
possessed attentions
from Digital's siren songs

I want to see
human eyes again
unglued from machines.

Afternoon Concert at Symphony Hall

Attendees in waiting
capture my watchful gaze

carefully turned-out ladies
coiffed with silver-haired curls

elegant ones sit mixed
among animated others

I survey the usual crowd
certain that I will glimpse

one of my mother's friends
surely Claudia or Dootsie

none return my searching smile
instead regard me not at all

daunted in spirit, I realize
I'm just another of their number

pretty nearly three score and ten
I do not yet accept my aging

quickly I depart this lounge
with springier step in my gait.

Keening for Sandy Hook's Innocents

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Lost in a Crowd

Between quiet and crowds
I prefer stillness
in all its aspects of calm

outside of jostling noise

I seek stillness
embellished with beauty
far removed from ugly inputs

sanctioned for heedless needs

beauty sustains me
in its scant locations
shrunken by human intrusions

to satisfy its ravenous maw

found yet again
beside whispering water
in some enchanted landscape

safe from the planet-trashers.

Death of a Family

Divorce kills
bludgeons
obliterates

familial bonds
ripped asunder
in sudden mayhem

jagged pieces
remain, scattered
among the ruins

love leaves
entropy succeeds
trust in tatters

disparate kin
scarred, wounded
in helpless witness

no formal ritual
food or flowers
for customary comfort.

Back to the Past

Losing just a bit
of advancing stride
in this race with life

need for shifting gears
back into reverse
to slow momentum

eager to set off
in time machine
to repossess the past

alluring vision
of youthful terrain
at high school class reunion

nametags matched
to unfamiliar faces
sculpted by aging

yet fifty years
quickly vanish
in those beholders' gaze.

Flying into Night

Azure, gold, fiery orange
layered like sand art
brilliantly lit
on my west

on my east
impending peaks
shaded in grays
and charcoal black

alternating glimpses
as double visions
soon to disappear
behind the nocturnal curtain.

Career Change

I wish to apply
for flying status
in my hereafter life

ready then
for sky-high adventures
in the third dimension

not as cosmic
or vaporous explorer
with eternal tenure

but sturdier
of broad-wingéd sort
preferably as an eagle

surveying landscapes
from superior perches
riding tall-mountain thermals

if this impossible
any unfilled, wren-or-finch slot
certainly acceptable.

 

Seasonal Prequel

A blooming bouquet of color
neon splashes
gold, pick-your-own orange, glowing red

brilliant zinnias
last stems standing
beyond summer's growing bounds

connecting the seasons
as premonitory avatars
of Fall's flamboyant blossoms.

The Circus Came to Town

The big-top tent up and waiting
unconventional circus in town

no lions, tigers, elephants
trapeze artists or juggling clowns

just rambunctious boy and girl
leading a make-believe parade

on the stage from dawn to dusk
performing with three-ring aplomb

running, jumping, swinging tall
batting balls across nightfall

apple-picking, rock-hopping
under autumn's sunshiny sky

climbing an ice cream mountain
final act of this spectacular show

the tent's folded once again, stored away
until next rendition of their gleeful play.

Personal Multiverse

They touch
but do not articulate...
my two universes

tangential
with convenient portal
between these independent spaces

one world
anchored in daily prospects
of comfortable ordinariness

the other
soaring and unbounded
levitating me on creative bliss.

Saturday Ballet at Market Basket

Swarming with the morning troupe
near the eggs-and-butter cooler

magnetized next to deli counter
pirouetting between with practiced ease

bending delicately over slabs of meat
stretching gracefully for cereal mixes

waltzing toward frozen-food cases
dodging some out-of-rhythm plodders

on point for paper towel choices
bowing low before detergent soaps

threading intricate, crowded spaces
among displays of fruits and produce

swanning discretely into pastry section
twirling round and round stacks of treats

queuing up at last in chorus line of carts
eager to hear the cashier's ringing applause.

Coltsfoot

Dusty colt's feet
traipsing along
in slowest motion

leafy hoof prints
pounding soundlessly
on roadside tracks

cheerfully lugging
summer's fun
on its hospitable back.

Fall Foliage #11

One redhead
among all the green others
grabbing fall's early attention

otherwise nondescript
scraggly with unbuxom foliage
small beside tall, statuesque types

one winning moment though
seized in August's preliminaries
before autumn's official beauty contest.

Garden Warfare

Darting dive bombers
on the offensive

whizzing rockets
among flower heads

helicoptering
with tail displays

ambushes fierce
in aerial attacks

daily combatants
near hummingbird feeders.

Mr. and Mrs. Soprano

They
uneasy seatmates
on the island ferry

she
commoditized
with fancy dress and jewels

he
over preening
in Wall Street pinstripes

she
seething
with obvious disgust

he
careful
under public gaze

gambling losses
new mistress
another murder?

they
inching together
ever so slightly

compromises remembered
tangled web intact
as they disembark.

Subliminal Messages (detected while camping beside Glazier Lake in northwestern New Brunswick)

The beaver whacks the water
loons call across the lake
a shooting star lights up the sky

the beaver thwacks a welcome
loons send their eerie greetings
a shooting star flashes its cosmic hello

the beaver slaps loudly and rudely
loons communicate the same
a shooting star weeps luminous tears

the kingfisher is shrieking, too
a spectral great blue flies by
I understand.

Airfall

Invisible flow
down the back mountain

gravity-fed
after sunset

gaining momentum
with soundless force

spilling through the window
pooling on cabin floor

splashing my face
with air-cooled essences

as I lie at edge
of sleep's deeper abyss.

Beach Front

Contented
side by side
in rocking rhythm

courtesy of
southwest breezes
blowing houseward

proxy presences
in porch waiting
for corporeality.

Loon Night

Bright as day
within black night

many wakeful
as others sleep

the spotlight rises
on flattened shadows

quiet resounds
across the lake

point, counterpoint
sung in unison

loons frolic
while owls abide.

Atmospheric Beasts

Dinosaurs once again
storm across the continent

thunderous rumbles
herald their coming

loosing death and destruction
in their atmospheric wake

stalking prairie lands
even suburban boroughs

sweeping aside all impediments
with random, spiked-tail swipes

offering no quarter
to resisters in their path

nothing available
to slay these sky-high beasts.

Modern Dilemma

How to resist, switch off
anesthetizing media
addictive electronic fixes

instead to nourish muscles
to observe, to think, to imagine
to exercise life vigorously.

Non Sequitur

Active aversion
to accumulating stuff
except for tilting towers of books

addicted craving
for crafted pages
of twisting plots and provocative thought

with endless permutations
for words and syllables
to praise, to chastise Homo sapiens

not always wise
not always humane
but occasionally divine.

Exercise Class

No aerobics
in my exercise niche

huffing and puffing
exempt from regimen

printed words exhort
thinking muscles

for literary
to authorial stretches

to achieve

new generative state.

Sunset Serenade

Not at the Met
La Scala
or Santa Fe
my soprano

her vibrato
bel canto
bravissima
in simple arias

enchanting
as Pan's piped tunes

harmonized

among hermit others

in concert with

sunset's brilliant encore

casting a spell

over her north woods venue.

Relativity

Anticipation
with memory
makes a moment

either future
or past
the present never is

punctuation
to a string of days
accumulating

collected
memorialized
as butterfly fragments.

Concert by the Sea

Performance under glass
unified vision beyond

rocks, sea, sky converge
to vanishing point

all matter resplendent
in sensory apparel

stage-lit by sunset
with advancing colors

swooping, white wings
in syncopated dance

harmonizing brilliantly
with bravissimo sounds.

Virtuosic Lover

Magnificent curves
resonant hollows
in lovely waiting

softly rounded mounds
explicitly exposed
inviting caresses

tenderest touch
sweetly pitched response
of devoted practiceship

fingers and sinews
working as one
for rhapsodic intimacy.

Execution Day

Today the trees

came tumbling down

one by one

by one by many

sky-high spires

summarily severed

shorn remains

stacked, tumbreled away

'the forest is dead

long live the forest.'

Feast of Lives

We only live
one life, maybe two
during our days

unless we read
then I have had at least
ten thousand more

myriad selves
through the ages
in global places

in many guises
troublemakers, heroes
from all sides of the tracks

empresses
artists
politicos

fortune-hunters
space explorers
clowns

cats and dogs
flying horses
even Loraxes

the list goes on
and on and on and on
in magnificent panoply.

On Entering Fenway Park for the First Time

Explosion of green

incandescent welcome

stepping across

this mythic threshold

hallelujah sounds

haloed sights surround

transcendent zone

for strike-it-rich moment

finding Fenway

at the end of the rainbow.

Renaissance Portraits at the Met

A death mask stuns

among gorgeous youths

older, bald Lorenzo

with pugnacious face

hung beside

his scholarly profile

in tiny portrait

sketched by friend Da Vinci

final cast more real in repose

against il Magnifico's ideal

suggestive perhaps

of a mafiaesque man of letters.

Conjugal Dialogue

She: What brought us to this moment?

He: Our tested and untested love.

She: What is the purpose of this challenge?

He: To build a better We than you or me.

She: How do we pursue this quest?

He: To investigate love together.

She: What is love? What is love not?

He: Love is complex with intricate strings attached.

She: Love is subject to the heart's control.

He: Love can be a hollow dream if only pursuit of perfect bliss.

She: Love can be an illusion composed of hope and false assumptions.

He: Love can be a chameleon with many emotional disguises.

She: Love may not be equal in all times of relationship.

He: Love needs giving with more giving to endure.

She: Love may not always have the answer.

He: Love may not be the alpha and omega of humanness.

We: Kindness is better...unambiguous.

Each Day

The curtain

rises on another day

reminding me

of fortuitous existence

in the midst

of satisfying spaces

with

pinkish sky

waking woods

mist-covered field

cheerful birdsong

inside warmth

smell of coffee

a sweet on the tongue

familiar fabric

of sensory connections

re-woven

through evolving years

wrapping me

in its daily welcome.

Almost a Fossil

Slithered into narrow niche

beneath limestone overhang

only refuge from thunderous storm

along exposed, Swiss hiking slope

grateful for protective shelter

against nature's raging moment

until I solemnly contemplate

unsupported bulk above

primed to crush me into a fossil

hid for multi-millennial time

yet quite a fitting, final imprint

for this rock-enamored scholar.

Cave Art

Once upon a time

tens of thousands of years ago

magnificent panels of art

filled mostly with hunted animals

bears, lions, spotted horses

artist-signed with red handprints

appeared deep underground

in France and Spain

who, what, when, how and why

now haunt these ancient galleries.

Human History

Many crushed in pendulum strokes

in wrong-way sweeps

fluctuating extremes

from enlightenment to fear

luckiest others in the ascent

before change begins again

greater swings on occasion

pushing the future more forward.

Natural Archaeology I and II

Elegant fragments

in every size

I never see a rock

I do not want to pick up

and examine

puzzle pieces

of a vast expanse

I came late

to this relationship

as sand-drenched native

millions, billions

in far-flung middens

once introduced

these magnetic treasures

captured my soul

ready to reveal

encrypted secrets

now true aficionado

connoisseur, collector

ever seeking stories

of the planet's

long-ago passions

in nature's

casually tossed aside

revelatory shards.

Sunset at Haleakala

Memory treasure deeply buried
crystallized as awe-struck moment

glorious sparkles at low-angle light

ground-scattered off augite facets

statuesque, silversword columns
solitary, once-blooming sentries

leading to the amen spectacle

at Haleakala's crater's edge

psychedelic vista above the clouds

studded with neon-colored cones

eternity in theatrical relief

stands audaciously revealed.

Swiss Intermezzo

I heard ten thousand flies buzz

in blooming Alpine meadow

inflorescences small and broad

smothered under hordes of black

raising their hobnobbing chorus

in summerfest celebration

not interested in me

relaxing in mid-hike

sprawled in this noisy midst

of unrestrained rejoicing

still humming that moment in my head

several decades later.

Ubiquitous Fences

Barbed strands

as far as vision stretches

across plains

deserts, badlands

companions

for the highway

shouting out

to all passers-by

'no trespassing

on my wide open spaces.'

Lucky Duck

Paddle

dabble

dive below

fly above

sunny and

rainy play

solitary

or social

no awareness

of disaster

would I trade

for a duck's life?

Walking Hadrian's Wall

Come follow me

along this sinuous trail

across dramatic hillscape

unfettered views

to unclaimed Barbaria

beyond Britannia

watch with me

upon the emperor's wall

for invading spirits

join me and listen

to Roman voices

in these heaped-up stones

grousing about

history's wild guesses

of frontier life-in-exile.

Classification of Pain

Toothache pain

trapped

in pounding surf

hip pain

stabbed

with many knives

childbirth pain

caught

in a whirlwind

migraine pain

encased

in Medusa's head

grieving pain

alienated

from Eden.

Siren Songs of Hope

Down the hill

convergent values

round the bend

common resources

in the valley

shared sacrifice

under the bridge

attenuated suffering

flowing river

absence of fear

toward the ocean

enduring love

into blue sky

universal empathy

back into clouds

without prejudice

poised as rain

post-political epoch

gentle drizzle

with forgiveness

morning dew

peace on earth

talismanic rainbow

good will among all.

Dreams of Flying

I envy birds their freedom to fly
at home in atmospheric spaces

tangential species instead am I
leashed to land and nearby air

until last night when I took flight
still secure in remembered sleep

a cage door opened to release
my dream-self wheeling freely

soaring with rapturous delight

escapee from gravity's tight grip.

Tricky Vision

Scanning glance
fixed glimpse
close-in focus

telescopic
macroscopic
microscopic

forest
trees
leaves

triple lens
for visual grasp
slowly revealing itself.

Daily Anniversary

Snuggled as one
in pillowed pod
before the dawn

suffused
infused with
soporific warmth

suspended
soon again
in the in-between.

Harbinger

A tiny jewel
perfectly shaped
on well-walked path

surrounded by green
luxuriant branches
fern-covered ground

pentagonal with stem
glittery bicolored
in scarlet and gold

acer rubrum leaf
in miniature
firstborn of the season.

Autumn's Orphan

Hastening her shedding
of dried-up, drab, yellow-brown leaves
before the color show begins

green functionality complete
no reason to hang around
not candidate for understudy role

unwanted outlier
to familiar cast of characters
ready to appear in autumn's drama

instead...first to bare her limbs
to Indian summer warmth
before submitting to winter's sleep.

Fall Foliage #10

Watching Nature work
in her photography lab
developing fall foliage

first with pastels
pale yellows mixed with orange
in a sea of lemon-green

next with watercolors
washes of brighter hue
drenching the hillsides

finished in rich oils
with dramatic, lush tones
of Renaissance splendor

fixed with digitizing clarity
as memory sheets
for bulging, autumnal album.

Before It Falls

Shall I pluck it
place in a vase
before it falls

my reddening talisman
still clinging tightly
to Autumn's stage

I touch its glowing surface
with growing attachment
each passing day

and feel its summer pulse
inside leafy veins
slipping away

no, I will not interrupt
its last communing
before it separates.

Delicious Memory Scents

I close my eyes and remember with my nose

freshly-cut grass with its cousin hay
balsam fir needles heated by the sun
muddy tidal marshes bathed in salty air
crushed wintergreen, sweet fern fronds
aromas of wild grapes and scuppernongs
rosa rugosa, yellow jasmine
smell of snow, lilacs in the spring
and wood smoke beckoning me back home.

evocative gifts stored as memory jolts.

Interlopers in Iceland

Balanced on the mid-Atlantic ridge
at its landlocked singularity

left feet on North American plate
right on Europe's creeping-away crust

just two of us, an Adam and Eve
straddling a planetary seam

transported back in terrestrial time
to a rough and restless Eden

interlopers in exotic, gothic gardens
untainted by human habitation.

Spectral Fall Flora

Fragile, skeletal remains
purples, pinks, blues, yellows

all bleached out

ghostly, roadside brigades
fireweed, asters, goldenrod

still with distinctive silhouettes

waiting, waiting, waiting
to be laid to rest
by winter's deep snows.

Fall Foliage #9

Slightest hint of blush upon her cheek

pinkish with orange tinge

perhaps a bit discomfited

for losing summer's youthful green

some wrinkles now across her brow

from shriveled-up excitements

yet satisfaction emanates

as if recalling play beneath her leaves

a gentle quivering follows

presaging ecstasy and loss

soon to happen in the next act

explosive beauty, then oblivion.

Blue-Eyed Daughter

Morning glory blue

star sapphires

a New Mexico sky

not pale baby blue

translucent orbs

washed-out pastel

luminous gems

high-value hue

Scandinavian blue

cool's opposite

charismatic warmth

all-embracing blue.

Composite Son

Your face

a magnet for me

dark hair

dark eyes

piece of nose

mine

from grandmother Roberta

great-grandfather Lee

Dad's brow

cheekbones

chin

chiseled look

through grandfather Joe

great-great-grandfather Claus

traceable sweetness

to Meares/Mahaffey strand

congenial nature

a Jordan gene

inclusive heart

from unknown forebear

composite you

genetic pieces

puzzled together

into handsome mosaic

from South and North

England, Wales, Hibernia

Sweden, Prussia, France

and perhaps, Imperial Rome.

Covered Wagon Train

Just one, long, Penske rental truck

hitched to low-slung, car-loaded trailer

heading west to California's growing fields

three abreast on cab's bench seat

driver, rider with sleeping canine between

fixated on advancing asphalt strip

the sky's the same

for these cross-country travelers

as for those before with pioneering courage

difficult to lose the trail now

with dashboard navigator

rooms, food, diesel fuel easily tracked down

still an odyssey of sorts

with daunting, traffic challenges

if no surprise Indian attacks and possible starvation

a different, settling future beckons

another young, optimistic family

attracted to wished-for promises of the Golden State.

Farewell to an Old Friend

Crown-heavy

it toppled in last week's hurricane

an old botanical friend

for decades unnumbered

shaded myriad passers-by

beneath its wide, green plumage

in every season

exchanged silent greetings

with its temporary tenants

a fixed magnificence

cut down to inconsequential stump

marker for its long-lived service

an obvious absence

quickly unnoticed now

by this once-close roadside associate.

In the Beginning

Suspended in blackest black

encapsulated within moonless night

standing on Kilauean lava

rendered almost blind

except for feeble, flashlight beam

beneath a pitch-dark, star-stitched sky

panicky, scanning anxiously

for any evidentiary light

in the null and void blankness

then creation glimpsed

distant sliver of fiery orange

as in the planet's beginnings.

Fellow Songster

At dawn's starting light

a robin begins his day

assertively vocalizing

happy for his daily stage

improvising few-note tunes

never for applause

lacking operatic timbre

exults in solo status

in suburban garden

mentors in many ways

merrily chirping verses

not always in perfect pitch

bolsters my resolve

to compose the poetry

singing loudly in my soul

soon my fellow songster

will fly away from winter

while I must keep rehearsing.

Panic Time

The sky is falling fast

cascading stocks and credit swaps

lost value with every splatter

time to run to imagined hills

with alchemized accounts

and mattress-ripened money

or.....to stick around and see

if we manage not to slip

on this global banana peel

my tactical, strategic plan

to relax, savor hoarded cache

of chocolate bars and fine champagne.

Ego and Existence

Insignificant transients are we

hitching rides on Terrestrial Earth

blindly exploring the interstices

of our Cosmic Triviality

dodging obstacles, catastrophes

among competing Random Forces

juggling seductive wrongs with right

in this vast Imagined Ethos

chasing extravagant, gilt-edged dreams

before collision with Indifferent Death.

North Woods Orgy

Swarming from all directions
squadrons assemble
at the starting line

hordes of flying jaws
probing proboscises
geared for lightning-quick strikes

high-pitched excitement
shivering the air
as feast time arrives

doors open
disgorging again
giant, warm-blooded chunks.

Idea Snatcher

Slippery as eels
at the edge of consciousness

firmly grasped
clearly formed
deconstructed
reconstructed
into ringing phrases
set aside
not available
to morning memory

often the fate
of unsnared catches.

What Is

To see what is
is wisdom
for living this life

easy to miss
looking always
for the familiar

to see what's not
keeps sameness
echoing through the soul.

Empty Swing

Motionless
it waits
anticipatory
for memory-boy
soaring skyward
fixed now in amber-time

he's gone
flown away
launched from highest arc
towards California dreams
leaving us to push
his Peter-Pan shadow.

Sages of Rockport

Rows and rows of stories
laconically writ
as beginnings and ends

stone tablets presiding
over layers of time
inlaid with love and pain

nestled closely to others
perhaps standoffish
when once upon their lives

joys long forgotten
troubles overcome
merry voices stilled

now silent choir of whisperers
'breathe deeply, prithee
of this sweet, seaside air.'

Butterfly House

Iridescence reigns
along scalloped paths
of flutter-by designs

painted ladies
blue morphos
among flamboyant peers

assembled inside
behind closed doors
a splendid garden

tucked away
from highway view
as meditative space

invisible threads
lead to flying dots
in a maze of thoughts

unraveling self
simplifying life
as mindful exercise

transposable spirits
caged, commingling
on another plane.

Another Chapter

The end, unbidden,
for another chapter

sudden, abrupt
unexpected

terms and conditions
destabilizing

losses mounting
gains less so

steady erosion
of social edifice

perhaps the next
less subtraction.

Genealogy Mole

I dig underground
deep, deeper
into labyrinthian time

prospecting, mining
sifting through dated shreds
for ancestral secrets

tunneling blindly
along dead-ended tracks
until one is not

unlocked
a faintly lit chamber
with storied family treasure.

Between the Cracks

Through which crack should I look today
to glimpse the intentions of the universe

where ants live
the chipmunk stores its seeds
woodpeckers hunt for lunch

through invisible cracks

where love meets hate
accidents wait to happen
a fractured soul tries again

or through some quixotic one

at the top of the nearest rainbow
where space and time converge
gravity meets anti-gravity

I peer through all of the above and see
the universe looking back at me
with shaking-head sadness and bitter regret.

Spring Again

Timid snowdrops
white heads bowed
in case of blizzard

nearby phallic
optimistic shoots
of daffodils

pale crocuses
blooming carefully
in occasional array

fast greening grass
yellowish forsythia
budding red maples

rebelling against
persistent chill
of northeast winds

spring
fashionable again
in its barest apparel.

Easter Egg Hunt

Eager seekers-in-waiting
on marks for whistled start

rapid, random scattering
bee lines to likely sites

ovals spotted, snatched
with seductive success

each surprise discovery
another jackpot win

pastel-colored stashes
filling memory baskets

childhoods overlapping
for hunters and hiders.

Awaiting the Storm

Sporadic advance
of snow-flocked air

late April storm
at north woods camp

snugly ensconced
with loaded woodstove

intimate company
of husband and dog

a Frost anthology
snow-cached champagne

front-row seating
for nature's drama

encased within
white isolation

panoramic stillness
a privileged event.

Little Miss Blooming

Refreshed innocence
as snowdrops

random charms
of croci

sunny daffodils'
eager smile

merry abandon
of dandelions

cut tulips'
amusing antics

apple-blossom potential
trailing forsythian frills.

New Mexico Reprised

Welcomed back
by clarifying light

needy, fresh eyes feast
on unclaimed nature

tufted vegetation
holds restless sands together

rocky-red, pastel mesas
stand artfully arranged

against chiseled silhouettes
of shrouded mountainscapes

all displayed in grand expanse
of epic, high-desert vistas

the bigness beckons
with timeless consolation

my spirit lifts again
on bluest-sky kite tail.

Out-of-Whack World

Cause on one planet
effect now on another

uncivil demagogues
with Orwellian scripts

facts dismissed
data without reason

upside-down logic
cynically twisted

creationism in
climate change out

resources deemed infinite
more billionaires needed

militarism cheered
environment in tatters

rationality denounced
drawn, quartered, and killed.

Only Beauty

No truth exists
except for Beauty

only constant
among elusive virtues

others fungible
subject to human change

muddled into
crass mediocrity

alas, even Beauty
sometimes succumbs.

Re-Invention

Massive white dunes creep northeastward
blown on relentless southwest winds

erasing vast, black lava plain
atop rifted, high-desert valley

collapsed from lofty mountains
once beneath a salty sea

all wrought as geologic blinks
in parade of anarchic change

reinventing the planet's face
in small to monumental spaces

nature's restless, experimental quest
still with stacks of masks in waiting.

In Family Memoriam

1969
1977
1981
1984
1991
2001
2005
2010
2010.

Genesis

Here I sit on tapestried sofa
cozy-warm beside wood-burning stove
meditating in magical glow
of brightly lit, votive Christmas tree

here I am, here I am
from where, from where

a cosmic speck collided with others
in great, beckoning silence
warmed by a distant sun
in benevolent galactic corner

here I am, here I am
from where, from where

infused liquid in oceanic flask
rich with organizing, chemical bits

steeping for a billion years
'til sparked into the living riddle

here I am, here I am
from where, from where

molecular to microscopic being
metabolizing eager elements
to duplicate an exact other
spawning boundless speciation

here I am, here I am
from where, from where

watery expanse flooded with color

blooming with fantastical forms

crafted by available time

in the hands of insatiable change

here I am, here I am

from where, from where

emboldened fins to wings and feet
seizing arctic to tropic niches
roaming grassy, savannah plains
in quest of exits for northern lands

here I am, here I am
from where, from where

hunting, farming, assembling empires
the old deposed to exploit the new
crossing insistent seas to fertile futures
to reap even more of nature's secrets

here I am, here I am
from where, from where

building cities, skyscrapers, spaceships
upon shifting technological sands
in quest of the moon, next to Mars
beyond and beyond and beyond

here I am, here I am
to where, to where

here I sit mythologizing
cozy-warm beside wood-burning stove
in brightly lit glow of votive Christmas tree
with my insignificant, wondrous existence.

Yellow Blanket

The past's invisible hands
on display in swaddling pose

intricate, woolen piece of art
crocheted with affectionate ken

hand-crafted ahead of its time
surely with future love in mind

dependent on familial aid
for hereditary delivery

now tangible, tactile bridge
to unknown great grand-child.

Convenient Friends

Scattered all through
memorialized woods

chiseled well
with comfortable niches

they lie in wait
inviting meditation

left behind
as Pleistocene relics

encrypted monuments
to terrestrial history.

Naming Rights

Undemocratic
covetous urges
overweening vanity

names attached
to interior walls
chairs, desks, tables

to museum spaces
college buildings
athletic stadia

to hospital corridors
courtyard plaques
playground benches

donor fantasies all
to own eternity
in perpetuity.

Theater Season

I attend in any season
whatever its masquerade

green, white, golden-yellow
red, muddy, bleak or brown

accepting Beauty as my escort
with consequential abandon

never fatigued by its demands
to see the unfolding pageant

staged curtainless in the round
as four acts with infinite scenes.

Performance Art

Beyond the kitchen window
three male bluebirds
cavorting on a drab November day

feeding, flitting
among pink-berry clusters
on diminished spindle tree

momentary canvas
brilliant blue patches against pastels
moving through ornamental space

startling, intriguing
in artistic composition
as any museum masterpiece.

The Golden Fleece

I glimpsed this mythic prize
in forested proximity

dazzling panels of gold
fringed in scarlet and green

gloriously illuminated
through intersecting limbs

assembled by space and time
within observational grasp

no traveling o’er treacherous seas
or dueling with grotesque fiends

mine to experience
yet impossible to possess.

Political Flora

Wilted now
the campaign flowers

opportunistic species
tarting up the roadsides

once alluring
in coded colors

brash red, promised white
and action blue

then the morning after
selections all done

time to pluck
these importuning blooms.

Time Machine

Remember me
she twinkles
dark, delving eyes

remember me
she tosses
brown, swirly curls

remember me
she models
unattached lobes

remember me
she giggles
conspiratorial grin

ten-month-old facsimile
of grandmother-me
from sepia memory.

Hereditary Music

Fewer heartstrings
to play our lineal music

missing verses
of generational songs

unfamiliar melodies
with strange harmonies

without refrains
of consoling sounds

no longer pitch-perfect
the family choir

waiting now to sing
my wordless reprise.

Apple Picnic

Seated on grassy thatch
beneath an unblemished sky

immersed in
fall’s paradisiacal light

with other sugar-seekers
ants, yellow jackets, honeybees

nibbling, carving
masticating

fleshy, forbidden fruits
with unrepentant pleasure.

Fall Foliage #6

Slow burn at lakeshore edge
not yet flickering
still mostly green

unseen combustion
sparking within
to smoldering color

sunlight arcing
to glowing limb tips
ready to ignite

a leafy blaze
soon to flare
into surreal state.

Fall Foliage #7

Peak blooming season
in its autumnal glory

swashbuckling gardens
with tree-size blossoms

sumptuously rich reds
fluorescent oranges

still-soft chartreuses
undulating among dark-green spikes

too grand to gather
for vase display

but arranged, rearranged
for memory’s pleasure.

Fall Foliage #8

Too bad Monet never saw New England’s fall
unleashing his impressionistic magic
to transmute its visual extravaganza

spontaneous, plein-air performance art
repeated annually, admission free
for hunters and seekers of this color feast

beyond expressive bounds of human enterprise
no amount of reproducing in words and pictures
can exhaust its spiritual replenishment

perfection in palette and presentation
silently majestic without arrogance of place
just exultant being its statement of existence.

Christmas Tree

A seasonal first
in its situation

garnished simply
with decorative stars

wafting through
symmetrical limbs

caught at certain slants
in attractive confusion

brilliant reds and golds
lit through autumn’s prism.

New Wee One

Barely hatched
many generations old

antique, feathery strands
woven anew into Lucy

with wise eyes
dark, unblinking

although speechless
she carries our stories

as encoded past
to revelatory now

reinventing hope
in its sweetest disguise.

Golden Boy

A whirlwind
flinging joy-filled flecks
in every direction

high and low
side to side
accumulating in reserve

stored carefully
as memory stacks
for future extraction.

Victorian Kin

Dressed in striped taffeta
Eliza first appears
dour and unfun
seated in old photograph

likely middle-aged
bunned not beautiful
beside Great-grandpa Sam
in casual, handsome pose

his piercing, dark eyes
under prominent brows
hers, quite kind
catch my glance again

leading me to see
a confidently placed hand
in private conversation
with his knee.

Sold Out

Politicos
CEOs
Wall Street casinos

Nabisco
Halliburton
mortgage moguls

pro athletes
even amateurs
just profiteers

most everyone
with the chance
now on the take

the haves
the have-to-haves
the bloated class

where, o where
has America gone
all souled out.

Do-It-Yourself Credo

Choose some fantasy or not
to find meaning and comfort
in this existential world

practice pagan rites
count the stars
seek nirvana
pray several times a day
read the Torah
meditate
wear a cross
worship multiple gods
engage with nature

however, be kind
do no harm to others
exploit, appreciate your consciousness.

Bird Chatter

Difficult to decipher
the red tail’s shrill whistling

surveyor of terrain

from higher advantage

its piercing persistence
nixing woodland peace

twittering, cawing, squawking
also in this morning’s mix

what do all divine
about invasive danger

its size, raging temper
or silent encroachment.

Family Ghosts

Swirling in my head
both alive and dead
unsettled, unsettling

some friendly or less so
intruding with questions
forgotten trespasses

exorcising blame
accumulated guilt
between generations

irremediable now
acceptance only
at this game-over stage

letting it go
letting them go.

Household Dust

Reconnoiterer of time
by my bedside clock

lit with blood-red numerals
consuming eager minutes

thinly coated in vagrant dust
whence does it come

local pollen, insect pieces
Hawaiian volcanic bits
Russian-spun drought debris
twice-circling Sahara’s sand
Indian cremation ash
in west-to-eastward transit

all manner of planetary stuff
mixed with cosmic offerings

reconnoiterer of time and space
by my bedside clock.

Entitlement

Subtle, sharp
exercised
with indifference

without gratitude
recognition
just expectation

egoism
narcissism
old-fashioned rudeness

mirror, mirror on the wall
we’re the most anointed of them all.

Human Theater

In this parenthetical moment
of in-between
she enters
he leaves
this improvisational stage

from not to not

incomprehensible
these in-the-wing abysses
separate or the same
spawning random chances
for beginnings and endings.

Waking Up

Waking at early light
sweet, beckoning sounds
delicious to listen

crawling up a sleepy slope
toward consciousville from dreamland
rarely do these two worlds meet

easy to slip back
adventuring beyond logic
and quotidian concerns

not ready yet to hurry up
to leave behind unbounded mind
for practiced perceptions

a catbird, robin, titmouse
keep wheedling, cajoling me
to engage with another day.

Summer Nativity

When I’m all alone
in the nursing home
awaiting my last fate

I’ll remember this day
three asleep on lakeshore beach
warmed by soft-air breezes

grandson towel-wrapped
napping on his Mémé’s lap
Pep dozing beside

a Michelangelo tondo
da Vinci family portrait
of nestled, modeled bodies

cosseted for just a moment
in absolute, purest love
a miracle of humanness.

Frustrated Suitor

A love-seeking towhee-she
passionately attracted

to vivid window-image
of resplendent, resident male

at first just gentle pecking
then eager tap, tap, tapping

returning each half hour
with escalating ardor

now basher against glassy pane
with wing-splayed, come-hither fervor

the handsome, ceramic toucan
still celibate on his indoor perch.

Swatch of Nature

Swatch of nature
exquisite details
stitched together

shimmering threads
flitting wings
dew-drop prisms

orange-cupped lilies
prospecting bees
sugary sippers

bluebirds on watch
geese rising
above pasture grasses

back and forth
up and down
weaving beauty.

Greatest Show on Earth

Come one, come all
to this grand concavity
nature’s architects at work
elaborate motifs, ideal forms
mirrored in human spaces

the Parthenon
Easter Island faces
French chateaux
Egyptian pyramids
Persian palaces
Angkor Wat
Aztec temples
Moorish cloisters
walled city of Carcassonne
Gothic cathedrals
Italian palazzos, campaniles
Buddhist shrines
the Roman Colosseum
Stonehenge
sphinxes, gargoyles, Chinese dragons

exact archetypes
visible in situ
brilliantly carved
millennia before
in the Grand Canyon Rock Art Museum.

Spectators in the Canyon

Some rotund or spindly limbed
others with wide, flat faces

warmed by the desert sun
baked at night by heated rocks

sessile in stunning surrounds
witnesses to rush-by torrents

and serendipitous greeters
of one-way-ticketed tourists.

Rafting Through the Grand Canyon

Fingers curl around
ropes and straps
to ride the bucking waves

holding on, holding on

bodies tense
muscles taut
braced for the wet onslaught

holding on, holding on

hands clamp
in vise-like grip
against disaster

holding on, holding on

gobbling dragons
lie below
in inertial wait

holding on, holding on.

Temple of Rock

Temple of rock
anointed by
wind and water

monumental shrine
with coded layers
of untold stories

sacred beauty
product of eons
still unfolding

inaccessible
except to few
seeking majestic

fragments dispensed
as talismans
to these pilgrims.

Time's Odyssey

No rest for weary time
running the cosmos

hopscotching in and out
of human lives

tunneling through wormholes
backwards and forwards

mingling todays
with yesterday and tomorrow

riding gravity waves
bouncing off dark matter

leaving us behind
as ordinary stardust

accelerating space
to catch dark energy

while seeping through
the universe’s seams

to explore another
with its enchantments.

I Want to Live with Beauty

I wish I could remember
what Beauty I saw today

suggestive maple blossoms
flush with willow green
introducing spring

less photographic film
to sear it on the brain

sparkling water diamonds
reddish lily disks
above, beneath the surface

how to keep it fresh
without withering away

accidental ducks
bufflehead pair
plying foreign waters

growing new memory tendrils
near the beholder’s eye

impatient squadrons
of mayflower leaves
eager to unfurl

available for conjuring
upon my soul’s request

streaking redwings
finches newly gilded
startling once again

I want to live with Beauty
every day until my last.

Spring Souvenirs

Scilla
vinca
ajuga

beautiful spring deeds
in blue and purple
scattered through the grass

good memory ticklers
once-a-year test
for fading flower-lovers.

Colors of Life

Strata of colors
purple, greens, gray
all sedimented

rich, deep draughts of days
nature-sipping communion
accumulated loss

unequal hues
vivid, attenuated
lived at different pitch

layered, distorted
metamorphosed
eroded into stories

geographic sagas
ascendant peaks
desolating caves

highly visible
invisible landscapes
of intricate design

scraped out, polished
by ebb and flows
of mortal consequence.

Two Boys at Play

Two boys playing
in the field
chasing geese
dipping for tadpoles
in rain-fed
shallow, spring pond

one tall, white-haired
the other, small

spotting the moon
in morning sky
looking for bluebirds
in nesting box
framed between
apple-tree limbs

one, remembering
the other, discovering

throwing a ball
for eager dog
running behind
at tumbling pace
while watched
by a grazing horse

one, young again
hand in hand with his boy-self.

Woodpecker Escalator

Hairy down
downy up

to suet station

red-bellied up
downy down
hairy back up

interspersed
with nuthatches
on pine-bark tracks

missing the fun
a red-headed
and pileated.

Silly Goose Congress

The geese convened
their spring congress
on a manure pile

this noon
seeking, finding
nourishment

king or queen
squawked orders
unheeded
amidst wing-tip jostling
for best feeding spots
on slippery edge

eventually sated
they waddled
to a watering hole
and drank their fill
to accomplish
legislative digestion.

Lost Sounds

Sitting, waiting
for the woods to speak

to receive greetings
from the stream
trees and leaves
a passing breeze

muffled, muted
by distant trucks
roaring jet plane

chain saw buzz

natural whispers
buried beneath
distracting mound
of dissonant sounds.

Grief

Invisible companion
leading backwards
against the forward grain

living just beyond
the present pale
on tightrope of emotion

fierce and friendly presence
exorcising forgotten secrets
of joy and otherwise

returning at random
with each slight twinge
of reminiscence

offering succor
with indistinguishable tears
of sadness and gratitude.

O'Keeffe's Pedernal

Sacred altar to art
carved into space
by sculpting time

naturally rendered masterpiece
ancient, deep-rooted
in its technicolor palette

brightest of brights
softest pastels
mediated by desert light

imposing as the Acropolis
the pyramids and Inca temples
in its solitary glory

her spiritual mecca
its cosmic beauty revealed
to this questing artist’s soul.

Reconciliation

A rabbit and a fox
strolled together last night
across the snowy lawn

companionably it seems
in matching cadence
hops to sauntering tracks

trading important news
mutually interesting tidbits
of this food-starved season

at length, I think, they parted
one behind the forsythia bush
the other back into darker woods

I want to imagine
on that bleak, winter’s eve
a fond farewell between friends.

Window Treatments

Clear-eyed views
uncovered
welcoming sunshine and rain

shuttered, shaded
all days and nights
against nature

unafraid
of beautiful darkness
its visiting spirits

inward focus
away from others
their passing moments

open to seeing
the unexpected
bringing different news

comfort instead
with reinforcing icons
inside four walls.

outer as inner
mirror images
of resident psyches.

Irreconcilable Differences

Incompatible
bipolar
in sensibilities

one
fact-driven
toward analytic meaning

the other
fear-driven
away from reason

two at odds
completely
to the death.

Sleeping Modes

Foot dangling
beyond duvet’s edge

pillow clasped
between knee and head

limbs arranged on
soft-serve surface

tossing and turning
in ritual rhythm

back lying flat
as mummified

still wide awake
composing a poem

when sweetly ensnared
in Morpheus’s trap

again and again
night after night

until the last bell rings
and all dream wishes granted

finally then laid
ashes to ages.

Night Sky

One by one they appear
each night on the hour
bedtime-story patterns

daily greetings from the cosmos
friendly to terrestrial gazers
from their galactic places

inestimable gifts
stars, clusters, nebulae, galaxies
such splendor in the heavens

linked to unwinding truth and time
relegating human existence
to far-back balcony of this universe.

Christmas Bird Count at the Feeder

Two downy woodpeckers
nibble suet bits

flock of fifty-five juncos
polka dot the snow

house finches, titmice
swarm feeding slots

blue jay not squawking
anxious to eat

one dozen whitethroats
glean spilled seeds

two cardinal pairs
decorate the scene

lone Carolina wren
convivially visits

all bookkeeping entries
in Nature’s evolving census.

Old-Friend Roulette

Six over sixty
rolling the dice
playing as God

no more denial
or just anticipating life
now betting on our fates

who will go first
second, third through six
in this game with death

all ante up
to pot full of winnings
for the lucky (or unlucky) last.

Cosmological Constant

Morse code messages
twinkling astral dots
meteoric dashes

wild mythologies
bull, bears, and Pegasus
in rotational pursuits

Milky Way streaming
ghostly luminescence
against the blackness

celestial collages
stars, clusters, galaxies
set in four dimensions

infinite grandeur
stretching itself
beyond our force-fit grasp.

Early Morning Communion

Cold and clear
subtly lit
by approaching dawn
Venus and suspended crescent

I see
I feel
I affirm
this sacred moment.

Space Exploration

Calling Andromeda Galaxy
do you hear me, do you see me
looking at you

I see you
magnificent, blurry smudge
beyond my galactic boundary

I a conscious, cognitive speck
collect with unaided eyes your photons
launched 2.5 million years ago

you and I now racing in tandem
toward the farthest edge of this universe
to find another.

October 16, 2009

Liberation day
self-declared independence
I finally let my children go

son Ned thirty-one
daughter Eliza
nearly thirty-five

their lives now completely theirs
no more second, third, fourth-guessing
by Roberta-mother-me

I resolutely stand aside
eager to watch and applaud
their high-stepping parades

relinquishing all my rights
and parental expectations
born with motherhood.

Home Sweet Childhood Home

Nest re-entry
to familiar warmth
unconditional welcome

womb-like comfort
without decisions
except for what to eat

best, easy sleep
wrapped in flyaway dreams
to once upon a time.

Fall Foliage #5

Fallen foliage
convenient to gather

collectible bicolor beauties
scattered in lavish ground displays

strewn as gilded, Persian-red carpets
leading through glittery, magical space

beneath bequeathing birch and maple
dressing down for the season

shedding all much too quickly
hastening our descent to winter.

Book Case

Standing guard
outside the bedroom door
in carefully composed vigil

a sculpture of sorts
artfully pleasing shape
strong vertical and horizontal lines

comforting presence
offering daily salutations
from Africa, Antarctica, a small Norwegian village

richly filled with eclectic details
plotted as past, future, present
mingling with my own existence.

Balancing Act

Delicately balanced
on a volcano
surrounded by ocean

naively ensconced
among Azorean hills
with distracting beauty

while sitting upon
a long, slow fuse
of violent potential

bubbling mud pits
puffing fumaroles
with invisible power

like erratic genes
viruses, prions
embedded faults

ticking silently
inexorably
as nature’s surprise clocks.

Island Refreshment

Around any corner
up from the sea
invisible currents
fluid refreshment

balm for the face
humidity-drenched skin
cooling massage
cleansing sensation

purest distillate
of far-fetched air
gift from Aeolus
for mid-ocean isle.

Family Reunion

Carry me back
to old, red, cotton-bred soil
from whence I sprung

not in a box of bones
just my transit
carved in stone

sown among others
father, mother, siblings
aunts Carrie, Helen

with grandfather Lee
his Miss Bonnie
neither known to me

greats Sam and Eliza
their parents, grands too
Meares, Nash, Terry

ancestor census
seven generations back
to Mary McD. Sherriden

all southern-born
except for Yorkshire Tom
and Dublin’s McDowells

gathered together
as layers of time
in single churchyard of stones

yankee transplant I
last reunion with this tribe
of Carolina kin.

Personal Tectonics

No handholds or footholds
on this wall of today

slippery smooth as limestone
missing familiar patterns

granite edges all dissolved
uncertain of right bearings

something seismic happened
beyond butterfly perturbations

nothing yet revealed
to my agitated force field

personal landscape shifting
hoping for no pole reversal.

Nature's Witness

How will it feel…when
common robins are no more

gray squirrels cease to scamper
as high-wire acrobats

no birdsong reverberates
with dawn’s awakening light

butterflies fail to reappear
without flowers in the spring

the hum of buggy multitudes
is absent from summer air

bluebirds flee over the rainbow
eagles exit through narrowed skies

kangaroos slip past gravity
elephants, tigers close behind

the sun does not rise everyday
seas and oceans lose their tides

landscapes drenched in daily gray
relinquish all disguise

not taking nature for granted
how will it feel without.

North Woods Memory Bank

Beached canoe on lakeshore edge
missing its tousled little lass

two babies lay in those bulrushes
near McDonald’s mid-stream rocks

swallowtails, checkerspots loop by
captured once with childhood hands

rambunctious wildflower bunches
offerings of a small boy’s love

big-rock play springs to life
with hide-and-seek theater

campfire moments toasted well
in magic light of shooting stars

I touch initialed crayon marks
cabin ghosts of growing children

the present resides now in the past
with long dimensions of remembrance.

Self-Portrait at Sixty-Five

Free-floating in the here and now
unencumbered with illusions

starting to trim the sails a bit
tying loose ends more securely

less inclined to climb Mt. Everests
seeking more compatible horizons

urge to simplify intensifying
shedding my accumulated dross

blissful in new grandmother role
grown-up pretensions not allowed

quite content with tandem existence
angles rounded after thirty-six years

life’s next adventure haunting our edges
most likely scripted without the other

anxious though for more carousel rides
while still singing in this silent cosmos.

A Fine May Day on the Concord River

Shifting into Thoreauvian gear
we launch the canoe
in full readiness
for a natural history collecting day

wind-strewn sparkles
race across the bulging surface
leaving ruffled imprints
flowing in their wake

we cruise through the canyon of silver maples
their winged futures rushing past us
waterborne
to downstream rootage

riverbanks brim with yellow-greens
ferns, grasses, wildflower foliage
goose families crowd the shore
redwings crisscross this nesting zone

rich, steeping smells tantalize
delicious tannic teas
decomposing muds
fertility reveals itself

I spot Henry David’s ghost
relaxing in crotch of weathered-sculpted trunk
appreciating
this familiar, redolent regime.

Saturday Night Baths

In quick succession
mourning dove
red-faced house finch
dapper titmouse
quite plump robin
stunning bluebird

chest-deep in water
heads ducking
flurry of splashes
fast flyaways
this beautiful eve
to some avian ball.

Word Sorcerers

Quartet of word sorcerers
geniuses and outliers all
gifted with huge imaginations
William, Vidia, Edith, Emily

placating their literary gods
with sacrifices of the human heart

rich baritone William Maxwell
empathetic, Midwestern pitch
harmonizing urbane intellect
with authentic sensibility

placating his literary gods
with sacrifices of the human heart

dissonant tenor V.S. Naipaul
clear-eyed renderings of humankind
tainted with syncopated anger
Trinidadian, Indian, cynical ex-pat

placating his literary gods
with sacrifices of the human heart

contralto singer Edith Wharton
in anguished, high-society tones
lamentations for cosseted females
caught in genderized, tribal traps

placating her literary gods
with sacrifices of the human heart

purest soprano Emily Dickinson
quiet rebel of lyric conventions
at counterpoint to other voices
with soul-felt exultations

placating her literary gods
with sacrifices of the human heart

intricate, solicitous riffs
exploitative rhythms
staccato of smothered lives
transformative motifs

placating their literary gods
with sacrifices of the human heart.

Spring Message

I spotted an oriole
across the bog
in maple top

he spotted me back
flew over
perched above my sitting rock

sang his seasonal song
harvest this day
the rest matter not at all.

Ancestor Hunt

Hunting for ancestors
through the mists of time
extremely misty

seeking illusions
royal connections
perhaps to Charlemagne

patrilineal this way
matrilineal that way
multiplying bloodlines

adventurous souls
from Irish premises
Welsh and English hamlets

escapees to a new world
from endemic mayhem
to freer patches of soil

recent DNA clues
relegating many
to unpretentious gentry

most unremembered
under weathered rocks

in forgotten plots

except for the O’Sullivans
several valiant Owens
backwards and forwards

Irish knight Sir Owen
linked to English barons
and back to Norman princes

to lordly half-brother
of William the Bastard
alias the Conqueror

later O’Sullivan heirs
settling near Virginia shores
in sixteen fifty-five

John begat Owen
begat Owen II
begat Charles B. Sullivan

migrated farther south
to Carolina grant
among other clans

Terry, Harrison
Wright, Dacus
Hopkins, Arnold

Cureton, Nash
Berry, Dunklin
Mahaffey, Meares

willing patriots all
to the colonial cause
for self-dominion

memorial stones
in Methodist, Baptist
Presbyterian lots

Meares/Terry/McDowell cluster
seven strata deep
in Pisgah Church ground

mostly farmers
single minister
one known abolitionist

Confederate soldier
teachers, dentist
equal rights activist

likely stubborn folks
fiercely loyal
kind and prideful to a fault

as I
as I
as I

soon to join this family queue
of resilient molecules
scattered across the landscape of time.

Life's Challenge

A honeybee happened by
without a stash of pollen
dissatisfied

buzzing around my ear
asking for directions
to the nearest flower

I pointed to a dandelion
off she went
contented again

why not that easy
to guide our lives
to simplest bounty.

Woodland Hymn

Come, sit with me in the woods
and listen
says the wind
swaying trees and rattling branches

rejoice with us
sing the peeping chorus
percussive rhythmists
melodic twitterers
high-pitched hummers
buzzing swarms
occasional scamperists
needle whisperers
dry-leaf chatter across snow cover

and be glad
be glad
be glad
chant all the forest voices.

Vintage Days

Half-filled wine glass
still full-bodied
beckoning red

crimson passion
flaunted in iconic curves
brimming with aged tastes

inviting immersion
in liquid ecstasy
of well-fermented dreams

daily doses welcomed
with exchanged glances
above and below the rim.

Backyard Wildlife

Its quiet stealth
full of surprises
for human spies

cottontail blur
dashing always
toward safe cover
except for once

black-footed fox
absolutely silent
sauntering
through grassy lawn

red-tailed hawk
on high-pine perch
anticipating
birdbath visits

pair of coyotes
pop-up figures
in alfalfa field
feasting on voles

doe with three fawns
daily apparition
performing
white-tailed ballet

great horned owl
massive shadow
skewering a skunk
beneath our window

smaller screech kin
sunning, sleeping
on front porch
of winter hole

nature’s quiet stealth
slipping on and off the stage
with occasional screams.

Never Enough

Evil chameleon
many-headed scourge
tentacular arms and legs
always grasping
impossible to cage
metamorphosing
cyberizing
greasing itself
waiting to resurrect
when surveillance wanes
hiding behind
sweet faces, secret algorithms
obsessional
disemboweling all virtue
self-perpetuating
across space, time, and generations
chained and unchained monster
within us all.

Turning Over A New Leaf

Time once again
to turn over a new leaf
reverse an old one anew
though ragged and torn
from so many turnings-over
perhaps too worn
time to find a fresh leaf
oak, maple, or chestnut
with bigger expectations
than willow, beech, or birch

need I find five new leaves
for five different reasons
hanging them on a line
to turn each day
in triumph
of will over impulse
insistent hunger
battling each minute
in every hour of every day
for momentary victory.

Final Respects

Flower-smothered hearse
headlight-lit caravan
in its funeral wake

playing a memory chord
my father’s cortege
two score years ago

final homecoming
to boyhood memory
its cotton fields unpicked

returning simply
to family’s embrace
seven generations deep

country vehicles
pulling aside
to honor his passing

added benediction
from friend and kin
for shared earthly minutes.

So Much I Used to Know

Names of plants
stars and constellations
capitals of the states

tropical Hawaiian flowers
I cannot retrieve now
in Puerto Rico

Orion’s companions
or Pleiades and Hyades
which is which cluster

Montpelier, Augusta, Boise
Albuquerque too
no, no, no, Santa Fe

so much lost
facts, faces, yesterday’s dinner
in memory’s dimming haze

replaced perhaps
with better knowledge
of how much we cannot know.

Two Best Birds

Reclusive creatures
choosing me
for acquaintance

paddling along
Sanibel’s edges
in quiet trance

mangrove cuckoo
staring back
from sheltered branch

slender, regal shape
its indicator tail
long, white-spotted

then sitting parked
in montane forest
with absent thoughts

glancing upward
Puerto Rican Tody
on tree’s under parts

dazzling green
lemon yellow flanks
stunning bright red bib

these exotic looks
quite a gift
to nondescript me.

Clapping at Sunset

Clapping at sunset
gratitude
for another day

bar bell ringing
cheerful toasts
join the chorus

anxiety-free
this daily ritual
for us moderns

no nightly fear
some thoughtless gods
may intervene

dispatch the sun
to some different place
in the universe.

If Prayer is Not the Answer

If prayer is not the answer
what does one do
to ritualize luck
to weight the dice of life

collect upturned pennies
count bluebird glimpses
petition the four winds
wish upon a galaxy…

if prayer is not the answer
what does one do
to focus a beam of hope
into the dark unknown

visualize success
throw back buckets of salt
chant exotic verses
meditate upon a star…

wrestler with this dilemma
upon the horns of a paradox
concocting incantations
to a capricious universe.

Weather Forecast for 2009

Tightening isobars
blustery economic winds
cage the whole country
no escape to balmy breezes

mostly lows, few sunny skies
precipitation solidifies
encasing fiscal landscapes
chilling aspirations

successive financial storms
disrupting investment patterns
pressure fields tightly wound
ripe for uncoiled chaos

tornadic ups and downs
devastation ensues
pyramid edifices
blown to kingdom come

climate change now in play

resetting dollar forecasts

against bad-asset weather

in depression-proof shelters.

In Praise of a Grand Machine

Random stab
of strange pain
on occasion

errant joint
achy somewhat
unreliable

collection of
colds, coughing
lung congestion

wince index
for lower back
tender ankle

dull headache
interrupter
of daily tasks

still...all heal
with patience pills
and magic aspirin.

Night Angel

So many lineal journeys
bring me to this loving place
night angel on my shoulder

nirvana achieved
there can be no sweeter
amidst such quietude

softest, reassuring breaths
harmonizing with my heart
binding all humanity

every possibility
beyond evil, greed, and hate
sleeping roundly in my arms

night angel on my shoulder
emissary from the kingdom of life
as reincarnated love.

When I Fell in Love with France

Long ago once upon a time
when I was twenty-five
I fell in love with France
besotted first with Paris
daily greeted by Mayor Voltaire
tending his garden patch on Rue de Seine
sly gatekeeper to glittering sights
strolling streets, evocative rooftops, catacomb mazes
amalgamated with dazzling surprises
of brilliant cuisine, glorious art, joie de vivre

lured easily into the countryside
for extended treasure hunt
to Chartres’ asymmetric spires
fragments of some celestial place

surreal, fairytale turrets
strung along the River Loire
palaces filled with royal intrigue
Chambord, Amboise, nearby Chenonceau

west to Brittany’s stunning cliffs
beyond fields of hidden menhirs
past relaxing sands at St. Malo
dotted with scarlet bathing tents

rockbound Mont Saint-Michel
mystical, seaside mirage
angular pinnacle with sacred space
reached through gauntlet of relic dealers

blood-washed, Normandy beaches
achingly memorialized
by endless acres of skeletal crosses
whispering ‘please never again’

another war glorified on Bayeux wall
a needlework, medieval saga
when William conquered Saxon Harold
winning for France Britannia’s lands

finale to our French adventure
on limestone hills above the Seine
chased after dark by chivalrous ghosts
through Chateau Gaillard's stony ruins

thrice more I returned to Gaul
an eager pilgrim into the past
through historic turns and twists
among art-filled caves and Roman ways
from Joan of Arc to Charles DeGaulle
seizing ancestral relations
with this antique homeland
where I know millennia ago
some Norman or Gallic others
must have begotten me.